What does Mary's death say to me? "They that work by me shall not sin." You cannot be sinless, as I was, you cannot die of love, as I did, (St Theresa and St Philip of Neri did), but you can, by keeping close to me, and doing all your work at my side, keep from all wilful sin, and you can thus love Jesus so much that when He comes to fetch you, death will have no terrors for you, and you, too, will be able to say: Ecce ancilla Domini, Here I am, Thy servant, doing Thy work. "Blessed is that servant whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching"; and the best way to watch is to work at Mary's side.
And let me never forget that my degree of glory in Heaven will be according to the amount of grace and merit that I have at the moment of my death. How thankful I should be that I still have power to increase these! And how eager and zealous to use my time to the best advantage! Death cometh when no man can work—when no more merit, no more reparation will be possible. The point I have then reached will be mine through all eternity. "As the tree falls, so will it lie." Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me now and at the hour of my death.
Colloquy with Mary, my Mother in Heaven, who is pleading for me; who is letting me do all my work close to her side; and who will be there at the hour of my death, to put me back into the Hands of her Son, Who gave me to her when He was on the Cross, saying: "Take this child and nurse it for Me." And He will see to it that none shall pluck me out of His Hands, for it is impossible for a child of Mary to be lost.
Resolution. To let love for her Son keep me close to Mary's side to-day, listening to all her directions about my work, so that I may do it to please Him.
Spiritual Bouquet. "They that work by me shall not sin."
Mary's Tomb
"I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatical balm; I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh." (Ecclus. xxiv. 20.)
"In the Holy City likewise I rested, and my abode is in the full assembly of the Saints." (verses 15, 16.)
1st Prelude. The Apostles carrying the body of their Mother to the grave.
2nd Prelude. The grace of faith and love to penetrate into these mysteries.
Point I.—Mary's Body
The Angels still continued singing, while the Apostles and missionaries and women wept around the body. But the heavenly music was catching, and it was not long before the mourners dried their tears and joined in the Angels' hymn of praise. We are told that the sick and the blind and the lame were allowed to come and kiss the precious body, and that in so doing they were instantly healed. Why was Mary's body so precious? Because it had been the tabernacle of the Son of God. Why is mine so precious? Because it, too, is so often the tabernacle of Jesus Christ. Do I realise that this makes my body holy? And do I regard it as something precious, consecrated and dedicated, God's Temple, His own dwelling-place? Often have Angels adored before it! How much respect, then, ought I to show it! How careful I ought to be as to what I do with it, and to what use I put it!
We are told that when the Apostles carried the bier to the grave, near the Garden of Gethsemani, all the faithful accompanied them, and the Angels never ceased their singing. The precious body exhaled a sweet fragrance which perfumed every place the procession had to pass through, and there were miracles and conversions all along the route. They laid their precious burden in the grave, put a great stone over it, and then dispersed. But they did not leave the grave alone. The Apostles watched and prayed there in turn, listening to, and rejoicing in the Angels' song.
Point II.—The Empty Tomb